Referring to an apparatus and method of purchasing commodities in an online game as a deputy using virtual currency for a manager in the internet café which was made public (Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2012-0028519) by the Korean Intellectual Property Office, a virtual currency in common use can be generally used to only purchase an item, etc. in Internet-based online games, and therefore, there is a problem with use of the virtual currency.
Here, Bitcoin which is a kind of virtual currency available for payment for goods is suggested as has lately been spotlighted.
Bitcoin is a digital currency invented by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009, and there is no central apparatus that issues and manages the currency. However, a Bitcoin transaction is realized by a distributed database (DB) based on a peer-to-peer (P2P) network and is performed according to public key cryptography.
Bitcoin involving such a payment method can be used without information, such as a credit card number, a valid date, a credit card verification (CCV) number, etc. required for credit card payment, and thus has merits in that there is a very low probability of theft and a usage fee is also low.
In addition, Bitcoin is stored in the form of a wallet file. A unique address thereof, that is, a public address, and a private key corresponding to a password are assigned to this wallet, and a product purchase with Bitcoin is made on the basis of the address referred to as public address.
Digital virtual currencies available for payment for goods include Litecoin, Darkcoin, Namecoin, Dogecoin, Ripple, etc. together with Bitcoin. Since these digital virtual currencies have in common characteristic in that a block chain in which information on a transaction done by a purchaser with a digital virtual currency including Bitcoin is collected and stored is stored in an electronic wallet, Bitcoin, Litecoin, Darkcoin, Namecoin, Dogecoin, and Ripple are collectively referred to as digital virtual currencies having a block chain.
To use a digital virtual currency having such a block chain having a payment characteristic, a user subscribes to a Bitcoin exchange (e.g., www.coinplug) first, creates an electronic wallet, and charges Korean Won (KRW) corresponding to the amount of Korean currency.
Subsequently, the user checks a current price of Bitcoin traded in the Bitcoin exchange and then makes a purchase order by inputting the amount and the current price of a desired digital virtual currency having a block chain. Then, the deal is closed through a purchase order which satisfies trade conditions, so that the user can make payment with the digital virtual currency having a block chain to purchase a product.
However, due to such a transaction characteristic of a digital virtual currency having a block chain, it is not possible to a provide consumer-to-consumer (C2C) transaction that is a basic function of a general currency commonly used in each country including Republic of Korea.
In other words, if both concerned parties want to do a transaction of a digital virtual currency having a block chain, an existing transaction system based on a digital virtual currency having a block chain enables the transaction only when both a person who gives the digital virtual currency having a block chain (referred to as a giver below) and a person who receives the digital virtual currency having a block chain (referred to as a receiver below) create electronic wallets required to do a transaction of the digital virtual currency having a block chain.
Moreover, in the existing transaction system based on a digital virtual currency having a block chain, even when both the concerned parties have electronic wallets, a giver should first input and provide a public address used as an identification means for a transaction of a digital virtual currency having a block chain together with input and provision of a public address of the receiver for the transaction of a digital virtual currency having a block chain between both concerned parties.
Here, the public addresses are about 32 to about 35 byte data composed of numerals and English alphabet lower and upper case letters, such as “1BBe23rvzYBwaAqckvj4TTTJAs3W78dUpx.”
For this reason, there are numerous cases in which a giver cannot recognize a public address of a receiver in practice.
Therefore, for a product transaction with a digital virtual currency having a block chain, payment is made using a quick response (QR) code for Bitcoin payment obtained by converting a public address into a QR code. However, when the QR code for Bitcoin payment is applied to a transaction between both concerned parties, it is inconvenient to previously receive separate QR codes for Bitcoin payment of all other parties who will receive a digital virtual currency having a block chain, and it is also necessary to do the transaction of a digital virtual currency having a block chain while capturing the transaction. Consequently, the process is complicated, and there is also a risk of illegal use when a giver leaks previously provided QR codes for Bitcoin payment of receivers to the outside.